Therapeutic Governance for Harmonious Family

Shaping Family Relationship during Marriage and Family Counselling in China

Abstract

Psychotherapy is often viewed as individualistic, yet in China, its familial orientation is increasingly apparent. This article employs ethnographic fieldwork and critical discourse analysis to investigate the psychological education tool of Marriage and Family Counselling. I argue that diverse psychotherapeutic discourses unfolding under the ideological model of ‘harmonious family’ collectively construct a new ethic of ‘therapeutic familism’, wherein the subject actively generates familial energy. Complementing this, ‘therapeutic femininity’ empowers women as primary agents in resolving emotional challenges within the family, thereby reproducing patriarchal hierarchies. This article reveals a form of therapeutic governance focusing on family, serving as a typical case for understanding the constructing of social worlds.